The present invention relates generally to remote servicing of in-field products or equipment, and more particularly, to a system and method for remote servicing of in-field product connecting a centralized on-line service center to the in-field product, such as medical diagnostic equipment, through a portable service interface.
Medical diagnostic equipment and supporting systems, such as medical imaging systems, have become increasing complex in recent years. Examples of such systems include magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, computed tomography (CT) systems, ultrasound and x-ray systems, and positron emission tomography (PET) systems. To add to the complexity of each particular imaging system, many facilities today incorporate a variety of such equipment. In larger facilities, the systems may be networked to permit common management and control. Further, such systems may be networked with a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) for storing digitized image data for subsequent retrieval and reconstruction. Additionally, teleradiology, systems involve transmitting digitized image data to remote locations for review and diagnosis by specialized physicians and/or radiologists.
Because medical diagnostic systems are critical elements in the diagnosis and treatment of patients, their use must not be inhibited by a slow response for service or maintenance. Due to the increasing complexity of these systems, trained service personnel are oftentimes not on location with the equipment. Therefore, remote servicing of medical diagnostic equipment has become an important tool in maintaining these systems.
Remote servicing of medical diagnostic equipment has traditionally been performed via voice communication between operations personnel and a centralized servicing facility. Operations personnel would call a remote service facility to report malfunctions and ask questions regarding the proper operation and settings for the equipment. When such queries could not be sufficiently handled by telephone, a service or field engineer was dispatched to troubleshoot the system and provide the needed assistance.
Improvements in computer networks have greatly facilitated the task of offering assistance to medical imaging equipment. In particular, rather than having to call a service center and talking to a technician or engineer, or having to await a return call from the service center, network technologies have facilitated proactive techniques wherein the service center may contact the medical diagnostic equipment to check the status of subscribing equipment. Further advancements have been proposed to provide remote service to medical diagnostic systems in an effort to provide the level of service on a continual and interactive basis as needed by many facilities. In one such system, a service center can interactively receive messages via a network and can respond automatically to the messages if configured correctly. Data required to analyze the state of operation of the medical diagnostic equipment can be transferred during an electronic connection. This technique greatly facilitates identification of system problems, allows questions to be posed to the subscribing service provider, facilitates transfer of updates and imaging protocols, and permits standard and customized reports to be transmitted to subscribing systems or stations. The interactive aspect of this technique allows the medical diagnostic facility to remain current on services provided by the centralized service facility and to readily communicate with the centralized service facility.
While such advancements in the provisions of remote services to medical diagnostic equipment has greatly enhanced the level of service and information exchange, such advancements can only be taken advantage of by systems that are networked to the service center. Non-externally networked medical diagnostic equipment, or systems without interactive service software resident on the in-field product at the customer site may not be able to receive service or use resources of the service center due to the inability to connect or communicate with the centralized service facility. Typically, a field engineer at the customer site can get additional phone support by calling the on-line service center and talking to the one of the support engineers. However, without a mechanism to access or interface with the remote servicing center, the level of service available to a medical diagnostic system decreases significantly, with the field engineer or technician having to rely upon more traditional remote servicing techniques.
In present systems that are networked to an on-line service center, the on-line service center will dial up the particular system by way of a phone line and connect to the in-field product via a modern that is resident at the customer system in order to access the system. However, for non-networked systems, there is a need to directly connect the in-field product to the on-line service center to allow the field engineers to utilize current service tools in order to bridge a customer system with the on-line service center. Such a system would be particularly useful for systems that do not have the requisite communication software to connect to the on-line service center directly.
It would therefore be desirable to have a system and technique for the remote servicing of the in-field product that can communicate with diagnostic medical systems that do not have the application software that allows for communication with the remote resources such as the on-line service center. It would also be advantageous to have a system that utilizes service tools that are already widely used by field support personnel. It would also be advantageous to have a system that could receive diagnostic evaluations and data from the on-line center, even with a non-networked system.